The Facts About Nursing Homes

There are two types of elderly residential care, assisted living and nursing homes. Most seniors wind up in either one or the other, if there is any type of medical problem that needs this type of assistance. An assisted living facility is one where there is medical help that comes to the premises. These are also known as independent living facilities. This facility is for those that only need occasional assistance in the medical area. A nursing home, however, is 24 hour a day medical care. This is the area that we will be discussing.

In a nursing home facility, seniors are kept in a hospital like setting, with 24 hour round the clock medical care. Skilled doctors and nurses keep a watch on the patients in their care and tend to the patients needs. Most of the patients in a nursing home are there due to severe medical problems that need the constant care and supervision that a facility of this type can provide. This differs from the assisted living facility in where a senior is allowed to live without the confinement that is needed in the other situation.

In a nursing home situation, the patient is there because all other types of resources have been exhausted and this is the only way that the patient can receive medical treatment and attention that he or she needs in order to stay alive. This is very different from the assisted living module which allows someone to be as unrestricted as possible, but still getting the medical help he or she needs. Most seniors would prefer the independent living module, but that is not always possible due to medical needs or a changing situation with the individual patient. Each one will vary as to what he or she will need. A nursing home facility has gotten a very bad reputation due to ill treatment and other such problems that have plagued this industry. Not all facilities have these types of problems, but the ones that do, usually make the news due to the neglect and mistreatment of patients in their care. This has tainted those facilities that have excellent care facilities and no troubles of which to speak. This just fuels the fears of seniors that they will be mistreated and abandoned by relatives who either don't care or just can't take care of them anymore.

Yes, there have been scandals that have also affected the independent living facilities, but there seems to be less of them than the medical homes. Why this is remains to be seen. Either way just mentioning a medical home is bound to strike fear into an elderly person. This is why there is so much resistance to the idea. No one wants to give up their independence, no matter what the circumstances. It just isn't their home. And this leads to a lot of fear and trepidation in the patient involved. This leads to a very tense situation for the patient and their family.

There is also a matter of freedom involved in the assisted living facilities versus the nursing home facility. The matter of the senior's freedom in these types of elderly residential care facilities can also lead to hard feelings at times. In a nursing home, this freedom is restricted.

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